Project Life Cycle

10 November 2010

The project life cycle for a business is the complete process a project goes through from its initiation stage of just being an idea, until the deliverable is out the door and into a customer’s hands. The different stages a project goes through in its development is the life cycle of said project.

Every project life cycle has a minimum of 4 different stages that must be navigated successfully for the project to be considered a success. This includes the initiation phase that is followed by the planning stage. Once these first two phases are completed, the execution of the project can commence. The final stage is the conclusion or completion stage. The phase of a project life cycle that requires the most manpower is the execution phase. This is where the assembly of the deliverable on the manufacturing line takes place. This is the single, largest need in most projects for manpower that is required for the successful completion of all the required tasks. Another part of the project life cycle that requires a great deal of manpower is the proper implementation of the quality plan. This is due to the fact that every component of a deliverable needs to be physically inspected before it can proceed. The exact specifications of the quality plan are already in place when the procedures are written by the Quality assurance department. These specifications are taken from the original business plan for the project, which is approved by the shareholders.

To know when the completion phase of the project life cycle has been reached is easy to determine. This is when the goals and scope of the project that was approved by the stake holders has been met.

The documentation that occurs during the project life cycle is the official record of the project. This set of documents is then formalized into a final report of just how the project was planned, executed and brought to a successful conclusion. This can then be used as reference material for more future projects that your managers will create for other revenue streams.